Euro jumps on retail sales figures

The Euro is off to a good start against its US counterpart to kick off the trading week after the release of retail sales figures from Germany earlier today that showed that Europe’s biggest economy is back on track after the devasting effects of the coronavirus.

The latest numbers from Europe’s biggest economy jumped by 4.2% in June vs. 2.0% that was expected which is a huge show of confidence from the German population who are now prepared to open their wallets to support the economic rebound
On a yearly basis, the numbers were even more impressive coming in at 6.2% YoY in June against analysts’ expectations for a figure of -2.4%.

The latest US Federal Reserve interest rate decision and monetary policy statement showed investors that the Fed plans to leave interest rates on hold for some time while at the same time continuing their stimulus program.

This means the Euro/USD currency pair will be driven in the foreseeable future by economic data as happened with the retail sales figures, and later on in the week we can expect some movement with the release of industrial production figures and Markit services PMI numbers from the Eurozone.

We can see on the chart that the Euro has faced strong resistance at the $1.1878 level and once again in today’s trading session has failed to break or remain above this mark and the key to any move higher today will be the release of ISM manufacturing figures from the US which are expected to come in slightly above expectations.